Lake County, Indiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Indiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 36 deaths in 35 fatal crashes in Lake County in 2024.

FARS records 539 deaths in 500 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Indiana in the same years is 13.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Lake County was number 2 of 92 counties of Indiana.

Deaths in Lake County rose by 10.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (489) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (539).

In the counties of Indiana the deaths rose by 8.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 15.8% of the fatal crashes in Lake County with a known setting were rural, against 57.5% in Indiana.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in Lake County by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Lake County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	36	35	11
2023	55	53	18
2022	61	53	9
2021	72	65	13
2020	58	52	14
2019	46	42	14
2018	51	47	10
2017	51	49	18
2016	50	48	5
2015	59	56	10
2015 to 2024	539	500	122

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Lake County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 123 (1976)2024: 36

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.Lake County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	36	35
2023	55	53
2022	61	53
2021	72	65
2020	58	52
2019	46	42
2018	51	47
2017	51	49
2016	50	48
2015	59	56
2014	48	45
2013	47	41
2012	42	42
2011	40	39
2010	49	44
2009	46	38
2008	52	43
2007	53	46
2006	52	46
2005	60	56
2004	58	55
2003	54	53
2002	54	51
2001	61	55
2000	58	54
1999	55	51
1998	72	67
1997	64	60
1996	64	56
1995	64	61
1994	79	70
1993	60	55
1992	66	59
1991	64	55
1990	74	69
1989	77	69
1988	73	68
1987	78	75
1986	56	50
1985	63	58
1984	65	58
1983	82	71
1982	90	82
1981	116	98
1980	105	96
1979	113	104
1978	106	95
1977	101	91
1976	123	103
1975	95	88

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.Lake County beside Indiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lake County	Indiana	United States
2024	7.2	12.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.9	13.0	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Lake County had 502,497 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lake County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Indiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 500 fatal crashes	122	500 fatal crashes	24.4%	19.6%
A speeding-related driverof 500 fatal crashes	196	500 fatal crashes	39.2%	25.7%
No restraint usedof 301 occupant deaths with restraint use known	145	301 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.2%	45.9%
Pedestriansof 539 deaths	95	539 deaths	17.6%	11.3%
Bicyclistsof 539 deaths	15	539 deaths	2.8%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 539 deaths	60	539 deaths	11.1%	14.9%
On a rural roadof 499 fatal crashes with the condition reported	79	499 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	15.8%	57.5%
In the darkof 499 fatal crashes with the condition reported	275	499 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.1%	44.6%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.Lake County: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	23	12	13	11	59
Monday	17	14	13	19	63
Tuesday	11	12	17	24	64
Wednesday	12	10	17	19	58
Thursday	13	12	16	20	61
Friday	20	15	21	32	88
Saturday	30	17	19	40	106
All days	126	92	116	165	499

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.Lake County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Indiana
Interstate	111	22.2%	11.1%
Other freeways and expressways	4	0.8%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	202	40.5%	27.4%
Minor arterial	70	14.0%	20.7%
Major collector	46	9.2%	20.2%
Minor collector	10	2.0%	4.0%
Local	56	11.2%	14.9%
Not reported	1 or 2	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.Lake County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	204
Dark, not lighted	118
Dark, lighted	157
Dawn	10
Dusk	10
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Lake County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	370
Cloudy	76
Rain	43
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	3
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lake County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lake	In all of Indiana
Interstate 65	Interstate	28	187
Interstate 65N	Interstate	1 or 2	21
Interstate 65S	Interstate	1 or 2	25
Interstate 80	Interstate	61	117
Interstate 94	Interstate	1 or 2	23
State Route 2	State highway	7	37
State Route 55	State highway	16	23
US Route 6	US highway	5	56
US Route 12	US highway	20	30
US Route 20	US highway	21	114
US Route 30	US highway	15	72
US Route 41	US highway	24	106
US Route 41N	US highway	7	20
US Route 231	US highway	8	74

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in Indiana

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Lake County on the county map of Indiana

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 107 counties
10 to 14.926 counties
15 to 19.934 counties
20 to 29.923 counties
30 or more2 counties
Lake County: 10.9

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of Indiana

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Lake County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cook County	Illinois	362	3,325	6.4
Kankakee County	Illinois	23	166	15.3
Will County	Illinois	58	563	8.1
Jasper County	Indiana	13	76	22.8
Newton County	Indiana	6	53	38.0
Porter County	Indiana	23	194	11.3

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of Indiana have a population nearest to that of Lake County. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
Indiana Criminal Justice InstituteThe highway safety office of Indiana.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Lake County, Indiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/in/lake/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in Lake in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 489 deaths in Lake County from 2005 to 2014. It records 539 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lake in 2024?

The rate of Lake County in 2024 was 7.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Indiana was 12.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Lake had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 122 of 500 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in Lake?

14 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 216 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.